September 13, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Stray Light Grey: Freeman & Lowe

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Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe have collaborated on a few all-immersive abandoned room installations in the past years. The last show they had in NYC was in 2009 at Deitch Projects titled Black Acid Co-op which featured an exploded crystal meth lab among other things. Today, their latest exhibit opens at the Marlborough Gallery in Chelsea. Stray Light Grey, as the new show is called, conjures up the old OTB (Off Track Betting) facilities of the city’s past in its multi-roomed installation. They have converted the Chelsea gallery into what the neighborhood and its occupants were probably like back in the 90s—such as an OTB gambling parlor—shaping it into their own world. Upon first entering the gallery, visitors experience a smaller version of the usual gallery, but as they proceed other, stranger, rooms are revealed, some through holes in walls. The farther in one goes, apparently, the weirder things get. From a storage room to bathroom under construction and ripped out walls, continuing on to other rooms including the OTB-styled parlor and a plastic-surgery center. Artifacts, artworks and videos are dispersed throughout alluding to what is yet to come. And yet, one can never really be sure what to expect.

Stray Light Grey opens today and runs through October 27th, at the Marlborough Gallery.

via NY Magazine and Bomb

September 12, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Cyrus Kabiru: CStunners

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Not sure I’ll be picking any of these when I finally take the plunge and get a pair of much-needed glasses, but they certainly are fun. Nairobi artist Cyrus Kabiru has been into making frames from a very young age, grabbing some scrap copper wire and making his own set, having been inspired by a playmate’s real ones. Kabiru is a painter and a sculptor and started making his CStunners just for fun out of found objects, wire, mesh, pierced copper and steel, as well as other unused, leftover scrap. From fun to the Istanbul Design Biennial, where Kabiru’s specs will be featured next month; not bad! I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if these start cropping up on the fashion runways very soon, if they haven’t already.

Photos by SylviaPhotos courtesy of the artist.

via NYTimes

September 11, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Julian Hoeber: Demon Hill & DH#2

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My friend Eric and I strolled over to Chelsea on Saturday between tornado warnings. We stopped by numerous recently-opened exhibits, but the most memorable show perhaps, at least for me, was Julian Hoeber at Harris Lieberman Gallery. Actually, more specifically, it was the centerpiece of the exhibit, DH#2, that was most memorable. This tilted wooden box held together with metal studs, beckons to you through its door. Inside is a steeply inclined room that is amazingly difficult to stand in and makes your head (and stomach) do somersaults…even just looking at these photos again is bringing back that queasy feeling. But it’s definitely fun and incredibly surprising. Makes for some laughs (and a little nausea.) DH#2 is, apparently, a variation on the Los Angeles artist’s previous work Demon Hill (the latter pictured in the top and bottom photos.)

These free-standing structures are based on the architecture of “gravitational mystery spots” that are often found in fun houses. Mystery spots claim to be sites of supernatural power to explain the severe effect of disorientation and vertigo that the visitor experiences, when in reality it’s the result of an architectural trick. Hoeber’s installations reveal the device behind the trickery, while retaining the same effect.

Here’s a video of the original Demon Hill:

Julian Hoeber’s exhibit will be up at Harris Lieberman Gallery through October 6th, 2012.

Photos: Art in America; soggydan; fiac; and the rest Eric and myself.

September 11, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Typography Bird Houses: Living Typography

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Typography and industrial design combine in these fun typographic bird houses. Designer Nishant Jethi of Mumbai created these hollow wooden 3D letters (the complete alphabet) that double as bird houses. Living Typography, as the project is titled, can be used as nameplates and/or house numbers while providing shelter to the many sparrows that have lost their homes with the recent construction of new high-rises and malls. If those sparrows enjoy type even half as much as I do, they’ll be happy to call one of these letters or numbers their home!

via behance

September 10, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Pay Phone Lending Libraries: John Locke

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Architect John H. Locke, who lives and works in NYC, has come up with a clever idea for repurposing the underused pay phone booths that adorn the streets of the city. Locke designed a set of lightweight bookshelves, made of milled plywood,to fit inside a standard booth. Hooks on the shelves allow the units to be easily and quickly snapped into place without the use of hardware. Locke has so far installed four of these shelves on the Upper West Side, and finds the reactions interesting. In some cases the shelves (and books) have lasted merely a few hours, in others a few days.

It’s a great, forward-thinking concept that makes for fun street art as well. Presently, John Locke’s project is being featured as part of the U.S.’s contribution to the Venice Architectural Biennale.

You can see Locke speak about the project here. Some of his other interesting projects here. And here’s a link to the class he teaches at Columbia: Hacking the Urban Experience.

via The New York Times

September 7, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 9/7

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This weekend’s picks for free and cheap things to do in New York. From art exhibits, to music, dance, theater, food festivals and more, free or affordable September 7, 8, and 9, 2012.)

1. Theater- 20at20 Beginning Tuesday, September 4th, and running through Sunday, September 23rd, tickets for all 20at20 shows are only $20, 20 minutes before the Off-Broadway shows. Check listing. All weekend

2. Spectator Sport/Food/Art– US Open Live 2012 at Madison Square Park. Sit back, lounge, and watch biggest names in tennis on the big-screen, live as it happens. Food & Beverages will be available and this is the last weekend to check out Charles Long’s drippy Pet Sound sculptures. All weekend. FREE

3. Art – Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s exhibit Voice Array at Bitforms Gallery, 529 W. 20th. Friday 9/7 and Saturday 9/8. FREE

4. Art/Experience/Tour – Chance Procedures in Motion, with Maria Chavez. Friday 9/7, 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Maria Chavez invites participants to join her in navigating the city by chasing subways in available directions. $20.

5. Dance – Eclipse Dance by Jonah Bokaer x Anthony McCall at the new Fischer BAM. All weekend (check for times & tickets). Friday 9/7 performance has a Pre-show talk with choreographer and artist. $20.

6. Music– Rafiq Bhatia, PEPEPIANO, & icewater at Cameo Gallery, 93 North 6th Street, Williamsburg. Ages 21+ Friday 9/7, 8pm. $8.

7. Animation/Film – Saturday Morning Cartoons with Augenblick Studios. WEIRDO CARTOONS from the past 100 years. At Bellweather, 594 Union Ave., Williamsburg. Saturday 9/8. Noon to 2pm. $10 includes homemade cereal, milk and mimosa or modelo.

8. Performance Art – Flux Factory’s Public Trust. Series of art and performance art events. Two events on Saturday 9/8, Physical Audit and Le Grand Slam Guignol. Check listing for details. FREE

9. Art/Design – Stephen Powers Murals: A Word is Worth A Thousand Pictures. Joshua Liner Gallery, 548 W. 28th St., Friday 9/7 and Saturday 9/8, 11am to 6pm. Through 9/29. FREE

10. Art/Music/Food – ArtOnBrighton at the NY Aquarium in Coney Island/Brighton Beach. Art installations, Music, and Eats celebrating the creative post-Soviet Immigrants of Brighton Beach and beyond. Saturday 9/8, Doors at 7pm. $10 advance, $15 at the door.

11. Art – Chris Ware exhibit: Building Stories at Adam Baumgold Gallery Saturday 9/8. FREE (through October 27th)

12. Art/Music/Food –SculptureCenter’s LIC Block Party. Artist Market, Food Court, Stage with Live Music. Jackson Ave & 43rd Ave, LIC. Saturday 9/8, 12-5pm. FREE

13. StreetArt/Art/Salon Party– Pearly’s Beauty Shop Pop-Up, Exhibition Space, 25-25 44th Drive LIC. The artist Swoon hosts a pop-up salon/party of ecstatic aesthetic embellishments to support the creation of a community activated arts center. Saturday 9/8 at 7pm $20 entry. $5 and Up for Salon services.

14. Music/Literature/Comedy – John Wesley Harding’s Cabinet of Wonders at City Winery. A night of music, readings, and laughs with an array of guests. Saturday 9/8 . Doors 6pm. Show: 8pm. $25 to $35.

15. Theater – The Zebra Shirt of Lonely Children (part of the Fringe Encores Series, best of the Fringe Festival) at the Huron Club, 15 Vandam St., Saturday 9/8, 8pm. $18.

16. Art/Crafts/Food – UrbanSpace Meatpacking. Arts and Crafts and food Marketplace. Under the High Line across from the Standard Hotel. All weekend. FREE

17. Dance – Fall for Dance tickets go on sale Sunday 9/9, 11am for performances between Sep 27 to Oct 13. All tickets $15 but they go fast!

18. Talks/Design/Film – The Public Open offers tickets to FREE events such as talks by Interactive Artist Ben Rubin (see our post) and Pentagram Partner Paula Scher on their contributions to the new Public Theater, and films of some of the Public’s previous shows. Events are in October but you must RSVP for tickets and they are available now.

UPDATES:

Art: GO: Brooklyn Community-Curated Open Studio Project – Saturday 9/8 and Sunday 9/9, 11am to 7pm. FREE

Dance: DANCENOW Festival at Joe’s Pub tonight, Saturday 9/8. Doors open at 6pm; Show 7pm. $15 in advance; $20 at door.

Food: Smorgasburg Sundays starting Sunday 9/9 at the cool Tobacco Factory in Dumbo near Brooklyn Bridge Park. Over 75 food vendors. 11am to 6pm through 11/18. FREE

Check back in over the weekend for possible updates or check our previous Culture on the Cheap posts for additional ideas. Most of all, have a great weekend!

September 6, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Anouk Vogel: Paper Garden

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Swiss landscape architect Anouk Vogel lives and works in the Netherlands. Her Paper Garden titled Folding for Peace, was commissioned by the Gardening World Cup (who knew?) in Nakasaki, Japan, last year. Inspired by an ancient Japanese legend which promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish, such as long life or recovery from illness, Vogel folded thousands of paper flowers and plants with the wish for world peace.

Photos: Jeroen Musch

via tribeart

September 5, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NEON: La materia luminosa dell’arte

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Oh, I certainly hope someone brings this exhibit to New York. Neon: La materia luminosa dell’arte, currently at MACRO (Museo d’arte contemporanea Roma) includes works of more than fifty international artists who have made this simple artificial light source (neon)—typically used for signage—into the contemporary luminous art matter that it has become. Some of the artists represented are: Stefan Brüggemann, Bruce Nauman, Maurizio Cattelan, Dan Flavin, Claire Fontane, and, of course, at least forty-five more spanning almost sixty years, from the 1960s to the present.

The exhibit will be on view in Rome through November 11, 2012.

Photos courtesy of MACRO, artribune, and esoarte.

September 4, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

The Weird Girls Project & Converse China

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The Weird Girls Project (previously here) creator, Kitty Von-Sometime, was approached by Converse China to produce a series of videos featuring the Fall 2012 Color Collection of their Chuck Taylor shoes. The videos were to follow all of the usual applications of The Weird Girls Project and, excluding the shoes, the video concept and direction had complete free reign. The three-episode series was filmed in China: the first at the Great Wall; the second at a high rise building just on the south side of the river in Shanghai; the last at an abandoned fake Disneyland theme park an hour outside of Beijing. All three contain spectacular imagery and the requisite Weird Girls weirdness.

Below is one of the videos, but if you like what you see here, there’s plenty more to check out on the website.

September 4, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Alicia Martin: Paper Biennial Book Sculpture

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As part of the Paper Biennial 2012 at the Meermanno Museum in The Netherlands, Spanish artist Alicia Martin has created one of her site-specific, signature book sculptures using thousands of books donated by the public for the event. Martin’s sculpture pours out of one of the museum’s windows, down the façade and onto the street. Quite an impressive feat.

The installation will be on view through November 25, 2012.

All photos by Ed Jansen except second from bottom left courtesy of Meermanno Museum.

September 3, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Winkel & Balktick: Laboratory

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Saturday night, intrigued by their invitation/announcement, I headed over to the abandoned Pfizer headquarters and plant in South Williamsburg to experience Winkel & Balktick’s art/performance/music/dance event/party/experiment: Stranded V – Laboratory. The area around the plant’s location felt creepishly dark and desolate, but as I got closer it was interesting to see the groups of white-clad (the requested form of attire) young people emanate from the dark in all different directions — reminded me of that scene in Witness when all the Amish suddenly appear over the hills to help Harrison Ford. Anyway, the huge and vacant complex of laboratories had two of its large floors taken over by science-themed art installations, bars displaying test tubes, flasks, and beakers filled with colored liquids on light tables, as well as beanie babies in jars, performances such as hula hoopers with multi-color-lit hoops glowing in the dark, modern dancers dancing in shallow pools of a substance similar to Nickelodeon’s old green slime, and a band whose back-up singers consisted of projected talking heads. There were installations that included a cloth covered dome structure filled with red balloons, a seemingly nude man in a trapezoidal box with small slits where the viewer could watch him bathe in a milky mud-like liquid, and floating petri dishes en masse that created interesting patterns on the floor of their contents’ movement. There was many a science-themed table with lab assistants (aka artists and techies) to answer questions and guide you through their inventions reminiscent of a high school science fair, all the while the loud thumping beat of dance music could be heard (and felt) throughout the two occupied floors in dance club fashion. On more than one occasion I overheard comments to the effect of “Everyone who’s not at Burning Man is here.” Not sure of that myself, but kudos to Winkel & Balktick for coming up with a very interesting and unique (at least for me) event, with the added twist of mystery and intrigue.

August 30, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 8/31

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Here are our free and cheap suggestions for things to do this Labor Day weekend 2012 (August 31 to September 3) in NYC. We’ve included some staycation ideas as well as fun and easy day trips within an hour or two from New York via public transportation.

1. Music- AM & Shawn Lee at the Knitting Factory. Friday 8/31. Doors 7pm. Show 8pm. $10 to $12.

2. Art – Avery McCarthy‘s Destination: Unknown. Includes a large, vast canvas framed by LED lights, allowing itself to be both an optical trick and aesthetic object: a modern day vanity mirror of total blackness. At Orchard Windows Gallery. 37 Orchard St. Fri, Sat, Sun 8/31 to 9/2. FREE

3. Day Trip/Food/Culture – Mitsuwa Marketplace A little taste of Tokyo only a bus ride away. In Edgewater, NJ, this shopping center immerses you in Japanese culture with a food court, books, magazines, toys and a supermarket filled with Japanese products. Take the shuttle bus from Port Authority. $3 each way. All weekend.

4. Music/Party – Swimming with Sharks at The Standard’s Le Bain. Saturday 9/1, 3pm-9pm. FREE with RSVP.

5. Architecture – Vertical Tour at the Cathedral St. John the Divine. No need to go to Europe to tour a spectacular church. This tour takes you up to parts of the Cathedral you never knew existed! Saturday 9/1, 12pm still available. $15 Get tickets here.

6. Day Trip/Art – DIA:Beacon in Beacon, NY. Beautiful galleries filled with spectacular installations and all your favorite contemporary artists. MetroNorth from Grand Central or 125th Street gets you within steps of the building, 80-minute train ride. Train and admission package: $31.50 for Adults. All weekend.

7. Food/Views – La Marina in Inwood. It’s a waterfront resort in Manhattan. Beautiful views of the Hudson and GW Bridge. Take the A-train.

Alternatively in Food/Views: Brooklyn Crab in Red Hook on the waterfront. Free Shuttle Bus or the IKEA Water Taxi from Pier 11. All weekend.

8. Architecture Tour – Before Brooklyn Bridge Park. Learn about the history of Brooklyn’s waterfront with architectural historian and author, Matt Postal Saturday 9/1, 11am.$20. Tickets.

9. Music – Troublemakers; Midnight at Arlene’s Grocery. Saturday 9/1, 12am. $10

10. Fun/Leisure – Unicycle Fest on Governors Island. World-famous riders will display their skills, and members of the public will have the opportunity to try one-wheel riding. Saturday 9/1 and Sunday 9/2, 12pm to 5pm. FREE.

11. Day Trip/Relaxation/Food/Fun – Spa Castle. Okay, maybe not so free or cheap but if you consider what a spa trip costs…this looks pretty good. We’ve yet to try, but have heard good things. A sort of “Disneyland” of spas, in Queens no less! Weekdays $35; weekends $45.

12. Fun/Music/Food/Culture – West Indian Day Parade and Festival, Eastern Parkway near Brooklyn Bridge Museum. Labor Day, Monday 9/3 starts at 11am.

Also, in Comedy/Improv: The Friday Night Sh*w at the Magnet Theater in Chelsea. Friday 8/31, 11:30pm $5.

Also, in Food/Music/Beach: Caracas Rockaway at Rockaway Beach at 106th St. has music events Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 4pm. (Though, lately, we’re partial to the beautifully wide unpopulated beach at 67th, if you’re okay with limited food and bathrooms…shhh.)

UPDATES:

Art/Music/Design/Experiment: Stranded V: Laboratory, a night of eureka moments, bold experiments and a Nobel-worthy science fair built by King’s County’s creative catalysts. Saturday 9/1, 10pm-5am, at the Pfizer plant in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Near the JMZ and G trains. 21+. $26 Tickets here.

Music/Food: Mister Sunday Labor Day Weekend Special; Eamon Harkin and Justin Carter at Gowanus Grove. Sunday 9/2, 3pm-9pm. $10 advance; $12 door.

Performance: The Moth StorySLAM, Monday 9/3 at The Bell House, Brooklyn. 7:30 doors; 8pm starts. $8 at door; $16 advance. 21+

Or check our previous Culture on the Cheap posts for links to Free Met Opera HD, PS1’s WarmUp, and ongoing museum exhibits that we recommend. Have a great weekend and check back for possible updates!

August 30, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Robert Kusmirowski: Mock-Up Demolition Project

Polish artist Robert Kusmirowski is known as a “counterfeiter and manipulator of reality”. Most of his works/installations are based on the recreation of old objects, documents, photographs and situations that are astonishingly authentic in appearance. In general, they have no defined original from which they are copied. One example of these works was the temporary installation The Façade in which Kusmirowski created a perfect copy of a slum-like façade (typically found in a Polish alley) in Blankenberge, Belgium, among the carefully-tended seaside townhouses. His re-creations become symbols of ephemerality; addressing the fleeting nature of life and death of material culture.

Kusmirowski’s Mock-Up of the Demolition Project, pictured above, is virtually the opposite of the previously mentioned project, but similarly themed. A building, ready to be demolished, was painted white along with all the objects related to it—down to the wash hanging outside a window— as well as painted markings indicating places where the wrecking ball would strike. In essence: a model for deconstruction rather than construction. And I would assume his choice of white paint ties in with his conviction that “everything white and clean is soulless.”

Kusmirowski’s most recent installation, Pain Thing, was exhibited at this summer’s Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.

via artboom

August 29, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Naama Israel: Fantasy Project

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Israeli photographer Naama Israel nicely captures a dreamlike feel in her series titled Fantasy Project. These photos, all taken from above, illustrate fantastical scenes made up of bunched-up fabric evoking bed-linens, which compounds the dreamy effect.

You can see the rest of the series on her flickr.

August 28, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

M. Angelo Arnold: Fun Furniture Sculpture

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Looking at these sculptures by Angelo Arnold, I feel like I’ve entered the real-life world of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. I can’t get over how much attitude and personality each of these inanimate pieces possess. Arnold, currently living and working in Vermont, calls his familiar upholstered objects with an unfamiliar twist: Familiarture. The titles of the individual works are also, in some cases, very humorous: Not Today (top), Loved Seat (2nd from top), and at the bottom is An Eames, a Chippendale and an Ottoman walk into a bar…

From the artist’s website:
Through the comfortable format of furniture, I present concepts of metamorphosis, change and subversion with self. I create custom works that embrace change and present possibilities for adaptation to new, unfamiliar environments and situations. These metamorphic forms deconstruct the functional object to establish a foundation or platform to recall past memories, stories and uncanny events. Through my reconstructed objects reference a vocabulary of furniture, the removal of the functional aspects subverts the viewer’s expectations and provokes new interpretations.

Some of Arnold’s works can be seen at the Helen Day Art Center in Stowe Vermont as part of their exhibit Exposed, through October 13, 2012.

August 27, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Dough Portraits: Soren Dahlgaard

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These cracked me up when I saw them on Junkculture the other day. Danish artist/photographer Soren Dahlgaard uses dough in much of his artwork, including this series of Dough Portraits along with large installations that use 100 to 300kg of dough with extra yeast…imagine the possibilities!

Dahlgaard has traveled to different cities photographing his Dough Portraits, allowing his subjects to play with the roughly 20lb pieces of dough before placing it over their heads. Dough and bread may be things that everyone relates to, but when seen over people’s heads it definitely takes on a different quality.

This Fall the exhibit will be going from South Korea to Israel and Helsinki. Below is a video of the photographer at work last year at the Vancouver Biennale.

If you like these you might also enjoy Julia Kissina’s photographs.

Photos courtesy the artist, National Art Gallery, and Vancouver Biennale.

via junkculture

August 23, 2012 by collabcubed - 3 Comments

MetroDeck

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This is just so smart! Brooklyn-based Norman Ibarra has collected used and discarded NYC MetroCards and repurposed them as playing cards by silkscreening them with classic English-style card illustrations that have a NY twist. MetroDecks (as they are called) include images inspired by landmarks throughout all boroughs of the city, individually screen printed in four colors of enamel ink. The letterpressed packaging is simply beautiful, as well.

More of a collector’s item than actually intended for play, these 54-card decks are definitely not inexpensive, but the amount of work that goes into each deck is impressive.

You can order them here.

via mug

August 23, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Mona Hatoum: Suspended and more

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, into a Palestinian family, video and installation artist Mona Hatoum has been living and working in London since the 70s. She identifies as Palestinian, not Lebanese, since she and her family became exiles and were never able to obtain Lebanese identity cards, as was often the case after 1948. Much of her art explores cultural displacement and exile. In her installation titled Suspended, a room full of swings initially evokes a playful atmosphere but, upon closer inspection, Hatoum has placed a randomly chosen map on each swing, representing the precariousness of war and randomness of its victims.

Her earlier 6ft. Cheese Grater Divider, again, seems fun at first sight, but there is a violent, life-threatening quality to those oversized large blades.